Sonidos de las
Américas: Cuba

March
2-March 14, 1999

Sonidos de las Américas: Cuba was the American Composers
Orchestra's sixth annual festival of Latin American concert music at
Carnegie Hall and other venues around New York City. From March 6 -
March 14, 1999 a delegation of more than a dozen Cuban composers and
performers joined their U.S. counterparts in chamber music and
orchestral concerts, symposia, master classes, professional meetings,
and "composer-to-composer" sessions.

Presented by the American Composers Orchestra in cooperation with
Carnegie Hall, the five previous Sonidos de las Américas
festivals (devoted to Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Puerto Rico and
Argentina) introduced U.S. audiences to over 150 Latin American works
in more than forty concerts. Over ninety composers and performers
from Latin America have traveled to New York for the Festivals.
Concerts have been recorded for radio broadcast throughout the United
States and Latin America.

Sonidos de las Américas was conceived by ACO Music Director
Dennis Russell Davies and composer/conductor Tania
León and was developed in response to the increasing
importance of Latin America in the life of the United States and the
need for U.S. orchestras and ensembles to broaden their repertoire.
The countries of Latin America have produced an abundant and rich
body of music, which like the music of U.S. composers, is
infrequently performed on concert programs in the United States.

Davies says, We have the same convictions and aims for this
repertoire as we did with the music of the United States 
namely that it is of the highest quality and deserving of a showcase
and widespread recognition. With the importance of Latin America and
its people in the life of the United States and New York in
particular, we felt it especially appropriate and timely to explore
this repertoire. Tania León adds, From the 1930's
through the 1970's, there was an active and fertile exchange between
composers in Latin America and the United States. Over 100 Latin
American works received their world premieres in the United States
during this period. We feel it is essential to re-open these channels
which in past decades have introduced the works of dozens of Latin
American composers, enriching our audiences and composers alike.
We hope that our advocacy of American composers on both
continents can help re- open the bridge built by the work of Copland
and Chavez and can be an important link in a chain of understanding
connecting the people of the Americas, says Davies.

The festival has garnered international media coverage and
overwhelmingly positive testimonials from all Festival participants
and thus has effectively re-opened cultural ties between the
Americas. During Sonidos de las Américas: México,
President Clinton and former Mexican President Salinas de Gortari
both recognized the event as fostering understanding and
communication between the people of the Americas.

The Sonidos project is performing a vital service...Composers
no longer pay heed to central stylistic communiqués, and
separate traditions have evolved in every corner of the globe. Since
Latin America is the scene of some of the most vital and independent
new activity, listeners should stay closely tuned to Sonidos in the
next few years.

Alex Ross, The New York Times

Festival Events

Carnegie Hall Orchestral Concert:

An orchestral concert by the ACO in Carnegie Hall, the world's most
distinguished concert hall, was the culminating event of the Festival
on March 14, 1999. Four major Cuban orchestral works were performed
under the baton of ACO Music Director Dennis Russell Davies. A
symposium in Carnegie Hall preceded the concert will feature the
Cuban delegates.

Chamber Music Performances

Four Chamber music concerts were produced in the week preceding the
orchestral concert. Three performances took place in Carnegie's Weill
Recital Hall, and other venues including performances presented in
neighborhood settings in partnership with Latino cultural and
community organizations. Performers included a combination of
virtuosos from the ACO and Cuba's top instrumentalists.

Composer-to-Composer Forums

Five sessions were provided for professional exchange between the
Cuban composer delegation and their American counterparts, addressing
career, musical and aesthetic issues.

Master Classes

Members of the Cuban delegation led master classes for composition
students of major conservatories and music schools in the tri-state
area, including Yale, Princeton, and Rutgers Universities, The
Juilliard School and the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Participating colleges presented performances of works by students to
be heard by the visiting delegation.

Public Symposia

Two public symposia were scheduled, providing a historical survey of
Cuban concert music and addressing the question of national identity,
international influences and music. Symposia were offered free of
charge in partnership with participating educational and cultural institutions.

Pre-concert Discussions

In connection with each performance, pre-concert discussions were
held featuring the Cuban composers. These informal talks promoted
interaction between the composers and audiences and provided insight
into the creative process.

Professional Meetings

Cuban delegates were introduced to a variety of U.S. composer-based
professional organizations such as ASCAP, BMI and the American Music
Center. In past festivals delegates have also been given the
opportunity to meet with representatives of other New York performing
organizations such as the New York Philharmonic's Music Director,
Kurt Masur.

Radio Broadcasts

Festival performances were recorded live for broadcast on the
National Public Radio network in the Fall of 1999 to provide
continuing nationwide exposure to Festival programs.

Submission Guidelines for Composers[PAST SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Please
check back for information on the next Sonidos de las Américas program.]

American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is now making preparations for
Sonidos de las Américas: Cuba, a festival of Cuban concert
music to take place at Carnegie Hall and other venues around New York
City, March 6 to March 14 of 1999. Up to twelve Cuban composers and
several performers will be invited to participate. The festival will
include concerts of chamber music and orchestral music; master
classes in regional universities and conservatories; as well as also
symposia and conferences with a delegation of composers and artists
from the United States. The ACO will pay travel, lodging and meals
for those composers selected to participate.

The five previous Sonidos de las Américas festivals (dedicated
to Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Puerto Rico and Argentina) have
presented more than 190 Latin American works in forty public concerts
and more than 90 composers and musicians have traveled to New York
for these festivals. Concerts have been recorded for the National
Public Radio in for broadcast in the United States and Latin America.

During the festival up to thirty musical works will be performed.
Emphasis will be on living contemporary composers, representing a
diversity of regions, styles and aesthetic. pieces. Composers
interested in submitting their music for consideration should sumbit
materials according to the following guidelines:

Composers should submit scores and recordings of up to two works for
orchestra and two works for chamber ensemble. Send scores only, do
not send parts. Scores must be professional, bound, clean and
readable. Generally, preference will be given to that have not been
performed in the United States or in New York.

Recordings may be audio cassette, compact disc (CD), or digital
audio tape (DAT). When submitting cassettes, be sure to record only
one piece on each side of the tape. Clearly indicate the composer's
name and title of the piece on the recording.

No more than one of the orchestral works submitted should be for
soloist with orchestra.

Chamber works may be for 1 to 11 musicians. These works may
include soloist and/or electronic tape or instruments.

Composers should send a complete and up-to-date list of works
that includes titles, instrumentation,and duration of pieces. Also
include complete performance history for those works being submitted.

Composers should submit a biography or curriculum vitae
indicating date and place of birth, studies, recent performances,
professional awards and affiliations. If possible, biographes should
be provided in both English and Spanish.

Composers must submit a cover sheet indicating all necessary
contact information, including title, name, address, work and home
telephone numbers, fax number and electronic mail address.

ACO cannot be responsible for the loss of any materials
submitted. After consideration, all materials will be forwarded to
the library of the Latin American Music Center at Indiana University.
Any composer who wishes his/her material returned must send a
self-addressed stamped envelope.

Selected Testimonials and Press

"The American Composers Orchestra, by providing exposure for
performers across the Americas, is helping to foster deeper
understanding and communication among all our peoples. Sonidos
de las Américas' can stand as a model for future projects in
which our common love of artistic expression serves to bring our
citizens closer together. I commend all who have worked for the
success of this important project."

Bill Clinton, President, United States of America

"Sonidos de las Américas: México has been, without
doubt, the most important musical event on the American continent in
a long time. It signifies a new communication and dialogue between
the United States and the Latin American countries. It is for this
reason the door is open toward a continental culture of rich plurality."

Manuel De Elías, Mexican composer delegate

"The opportunity to exchange ideas with composers from other
countries is one which is invaluable, not to mention essential to the
vitality and relevance to the orchestral music in contemporary
society. Naturally, a new understanding of the music resulted. And
with new understanding comes a renewed vision of who the composer is
in the process of composing, performing, and hearing music. The
American Composers Orchestra has always been a leader in the field,
and the Sonidos Festival is another example of why the ACO enjoys its reputation."

Libby Larsen, U.S. composer delegate

"The Festival was an event of the utmost importance for
Brazilian culture. I believe that the Festival assumes historical
significance due to the fact that the selected repertoire included
some thirty of the most representative works of Brazil's musical
production in the last 50 years."

Edino Krieger, Brazilian composer delegate

"The Sonidos project is performing a vital service....Composers
no longer pay heed to central stylistic communiqués, and
separate traditions have evolved in every corner of the globe. Since
Latin America is the scene of some of the most vital and independent
new activity, listeners should stay closely tuned to Sonidos'
in the next few years."

Alex Ross, The New York Times

"...the concert by Venezuela's Ensamble Gurrufio was one of the
highlights of the Center's inaugural season. This speaks to the
curatorial approach to programming and vision of those at the ACO who
have been quick to recognize the value of the music being composed
and performed in countries south of our border and shores. The
Festival's music would not have reached our audiences had it not been
for the ACO's interest in our Center and the community we serve."

Wallace Edgecombe, Director, Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture

"I believe that the Festival was surely the most important thing
organized in the last 20 years to promote Brazilian contemporary
music. I am sure that this event will change the relations between
the musicians of Brazil and the USA in the near future."

Marlos Nobre, Brazilian composer delegate

"One rather doubts that any of the New York season's upcoming
orchestra concerts stands a chance of topping the sense of wonder,
the excitement of discovery, and the shake-your-bootie, party-down
attitude of the ACO's [Brazilian] survey. Dennis Russell Davies, the
ACO's maestro, was in his glory. This conductor rocks."

Michael Redmond, The Star-Ledger

"The present variety of Mexican music should be some safeguard
against stereotyping, and this festivalwhich included, besides
the public concerts, master classes and meetings between Mexican and
U.S. composersrightly pointed us away from regarding Mexico as
a colorful somewhere else. As Sonidos de las Américas moves on
toward Venezuela in December, the presence of Mexican music here must remain."&#9;

Paul Griffiths, The New Yorker magazine

I would like to commend the work that the American Composers
Orchestra did in getting both Mexicans and Americans involved in the
extraordinary process of composing, performing, and hearing music
from Mexico. Thank you again for Sonidos de las Américas:
México, and for its important and creative spirit that
enriches cultural exchange and understanding between our two great nations."

Ambassador Fausto Zapata, Consul General of Mexico

It is the most significant interchange in artistic matters
between North and South America. These types of experiences are very
rewarding, stimulating for the creative process of the creators of
today since New York is such a worldly arts center."&#9;

Beatriz Bilbao, Venezuelan composer delegate

"One cannot underestimate the significance of such encounters
which provide a unique opportunity to reassess the meanings attached
to one's own creative activities in a broad context. I cannot think
of a more conducive avenue of goodwill and mutual understanding than
the opportunities provided by the Festival."

Gerard Béhague, Professor of Musicology/Ethnomusicology
and Editor, Latin American Music Review, University of Texas

"Your festival, based upon the idea of performing the best
concert music from different Latin American countries, is an
exceptionally creative and generous form of participation in the
development of cultural identity. The mere fact of having our recent
musical production screened, analyzed against its own historic
background, and the subsequent fact of having a selection of works
made by outstanding North American musicians and composers, doesn't
only establish a balance sheet of the recent past, it creates a new
starting point, spurring the activity of composing and producing new
musical events in our countries."

Paul Desenne, Venezuelan composer delegate

"The American Composers Orchestra' s festival is easily the most
significant effort here since the 1960's in filling the gaps in our
musical commerce with Latin America."

Todd Vunderink, Director, Peer-Southern Concert Music

Sonidos Festival Support & Leadership

Recent Funders

Previous Sonidos de las Américas festivals have been supported
by a consortium of corporate, foundation, government and private
support that included AT&T, NYNEX, Bancomer, Joseph E. Seagram
& Sons, Inc., the United States Information Agency, the
U.S.Mexico Fund for Culture, The Rockefeller Foundation, Booth
Ferris Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, the Eleanor
Naylor Dana Charitable Trust, Bacardi-Martini, the Robert Sterling
Clark Foundation, The New York Community Trust, the Emma A. Sheafer
Charitable Trust, and the New York State Council on the Arts, and the
City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs Cultural Challenge
Program. A similar consortium is being developed to support Sonidos
de las Américas: Argentina.

Community Partners & Leadership Committee

The success of Sonidos de las Américas: Argentina hinges on
the active involvement of community, business and cultural leaders.
In order to create an effective network of support, the ACO has
established the Sonidos Leadership Committee, a volunteer group,
which will work with the ACO and its staff in coordinating key
aspects of the Festival. Among the activities the group will be
responsible for are marketing and outreach, community relations,
special event planning and coordination, sponsorship and securing
other sources of financial support.